More than half of global private companies are planning to invest in 5G technology in the next three years and the rising star seems to be private networks. As more devices are connected and the 5G ecosystem matures, deployment costs will drop, making the new technology more and more attractive for all kinds of businesses.
The majority of global private companies are interested in 5G technology
According to the results of the third edition of the EY – Reimagining Industry Futures study, the majority of global private companies (85%) have declared their interest in 5G technology and more than half of them (56%) are planning to invest in this segment in the next three years. Nearly half of respondents (49%) say they will prioritize using 5G technology to optimize their processes, while 28% believe they will use it for more advanced applications, such as virtual reality and augmented reality.
In addition, businesses are currently focused on strengthening their business resilience, ensuring corporate priorities are met, and responding to stakeholder expectations. As such, 85% of respondents said the global health crisis influences their interest in 5G technology — up from 52% in last year’s survey.
Seven out of eight companies (87.5%) also said their intention to adopt 5G technology is driven by supply chain disruptions, while 71% said the main influence is environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) concerns. In this context, 37% of respondents said that the offerings currently proposed by 5G and IoT technology providers do not meet their needs in terms of resilience and business continuity, and 47% felt that they do not meet their sustainability objectives.
EY data shows that investment plans in 5G technology over the same period are highest in Europe, up from 5% last year — when Europe lagged behind other regions — to 76% today.
“This signals not only a more conservative approach to 5G but also stagnation in confidence in general. Only 24% of responding companies said they are very confident they can successfully deploy 5G technology (down 1% from last year). This is compounded by companies’ low understanding of how 5G can be combined with other emerging technologies, an issue that is currently cited as the main impediment to 5G perception and ranked fifth last year,” the survey notes.
Over three-quarters (77%) of responding companies say they are interested in using private networks to deploy 5G and IoT for various applications, and 71% say they would like to purchase 5G solutions through an intermediary rather than directly from a telecom operator.
Private 5G networks are on the rise
The impact of 5G technology on businesses is extremely important. Connected manufacturing systems, so-called Industry 4.0, rely on low latency to synchronize machines and help them respond to their environment. 5G networks offer ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) needed for applications as diverse as industrial control, driverless cars, and virtual reality. Thus, private 5G networks will grow faster than public 5G over the next 10 years.
According to a forecast from MarketResearch.com, the private 5G network market size will grow at an average rate of 40 percent a year between 2021 and 2028, by which time it will be worth $14bn. Significantly growing demand for ultra-reliable low-latency connectivity with an extremely secure network across several mission-critical applications, such as public safety, is expected to boost the deployment of private 5G networks during the forecast period.
“The private 5G network is expected to completely transform the transportation and logistics industry by providing seamless Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) connectivity. The need to ensure a secure, seamless, and uninterrupted connectivity with ports, vessels, and ships is estimated to drive the market. At the same time, the continued deployment of private 5G infrastructure is estimated to improve the operational efficiencies in several Industrial IoT (IIoT) use cases. The IIoT use cases include Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV), wireless UHD cameras, machine control systems, collaborative/cloud robots, and remote asset monitoring. Thus, the rising need for higher and secure bandwidth to ensure reliable and unified communication between IIoT devices is expected to propel the market growth over the forecast period,” the research shows.
As fifth-generation mobile networks continue to roll out, businesses active in several sectors are already testing and installing private 5G networks, including the U.S. Armed Forces. Reliable connectivity, top-notch security, and more connected devices on its network are what any modern organization needs today. 5G can provide all that is needed, and that’s exactly why most global private companies have declared their interest in the new technology.
